Forever in the Stars
by storm-brain
Summary: They're not star crossed lovers, but they're two of the three. Five times Zoe and Hercules meet.


The blackness isn't inky, or empty. It's not poetic and meaningful. It's just black. Sky. Space. Surrounding her, twirling off into infinity.

The part of her that knows that in her old life she might have found it boring… that part is hidden. Deep. Smothered. The rest of her doesn't really care. She's lost, lost in the silence. The beauty.

It's not peaceful. Not with the fire and the explosions and the planets taunting her from a distance. Not with the animals and ancients drifting around, eyes fixed on another world, or simply gazing off into the distance. There's no horizon, nothing to stop her seeing.

They're surrounded by Forever.

It's a strange thought, but she doesn't do much thinking. Here is peace. Artemis is okay, and Zoë is dancing. Slowly. A waltz, maybe. Or maybe she's just walking. Or floating. That could be it.

Maybe they all are. Drifting, aimless.

She has her bow. She has herself, and she spends her time hunting the monsters and rocks that litter the sky.

* * *

><p>The first time their paths cross, she recognizes him. Of course she does. It's been two thousand years, and she's forgotten his face. She's forgotten the scars on his hands. She's forgotten the way his breath felt like on her ear as they hid from her sisters. But she hasn't forgotten what it feels like to be near him.<p>

It's not a pleasant feeling.

Not anymore.

She flees before he has a chance to recognize her.

* * *

><p>She doesn't know how many lifetimes have passed on earth before they're forced to speak. Somehow he's in front of her and there's no way to turn around.<p>

So they stare for a second.

_Zoë? _He doesn't speak, impossible to speak, but she can feel the words. In the tongue of her father, that she hasn't spoken for so long.

_Who wishes to know?_ She demands.

He lifts an arm. _You have forgotten? _

She can't lie. _No. _

There's that awkward moment. A reunion. Something flies past his face, but she isn't sure what it is. A meteor, a stray star.

She doesn't understand him. She understands him so little that she swore off everyone like him because she hates things she doesn't understand.

_You look exactly the same, _he says. And she wonders how bad his memory is, because she's merely an outline now.

Don't talk to me like you know me.

_You look like a swastika, _she tells him. And then leaves, bow raised, falling back into her endless pursuit of Cancer.

* * *

><p>The third time they meet, she accidentally sends her arrow through his middle.<p>

It's an accident.

And of course it doesn't have any effect on him.

He hardly notices.

And she's mildly irritated.

Hunting for so long with no kill isn't angering her like it once might have. That's all she's ever done, isn't it? Killed monsters that refuse to die?

She feels slightly gratified that Orion ignores Hercules as well.

* * *

><p>Orion is a good hunting partner.<p>

He doesn't try and talk to her.

They just walk.

But he was friends with Artemis, too.

* * *

><p>The fourth time they meet, he again tries to speak with her.<p>

_I wondered about you. How you ended up here. _

_I died. _

This isn't what he expected. She can tell. She can always tell.

_You must be lonely here. _

_Are you? _

That crease in between his eyes.

_Yes. _

_Good. _

Perhaps Andromeda would make better company. Then again, Zoë has grown used to being with the same group for Forever, and she doesn't much mind it. At least here she has that option of solace. Can be alone when she wants.

Wants.

Zoë wants.

On earth, she never thought those words, not together. There were always other people, always ahead of her. Always duties and obligations.

Zoë wants.

She kind of likes how it sounds.

Zoë wants.

_They enjoy talking about star-crossed lovers on earth, _he says. One more desperate reach. _I thought of you. _

They are stars, after all.

It's been a long time since she laughed.

_For us to be star-crossed lovers, _she says, _there would have to be love._

* * *

><p>The fifth time they meet is a long time later. She doesn't know how long, of course. What little she does know is fading as she forgets. As they all forget. When she has reached out to the sky, become the sky. When she can barely remember her own name, much less anyone else's.<p>

They face each other again.

She knows him. She can remember that.

She can remember the traces of emotion, still lingering.

But she can't remember what caused them.

He looks equally confused.

_Hello, _she says.

_Hello, _he says back.

They continue on into Forever.


End file.
